Control board panel



May 15, 1952 G. w. wAssELl. 3,034,474

CONTROL BoARD PANEL Filed Jan. 14, 1960 2 sheets-sheet 1 OOWQOOQOO INVENTOR. GEORGE W. WASSELL BY M his ATTORNEYS May 15 1962 G. w. wAssELL CONTROL BOARD PANEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1960 L k@ N mm ,M ..l VN E m d A .1W/0s; ww. E QM m W NN m um Y DD @k @um wm NN @ums W@ ik Nm A n .um nl k lll... l. i mwmwmwnmu++++f++++\q\+1..+v1+..+fv O mmfwwxmnmx n www Y,

.d@ \\\g O +f++..\ v++++ Tl v 1 1 f 1.. ,4 w N. v Enh l D 1WFN? 1 his ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,934,474 CNTRGL BGARD PANEL George W. Wassell, Westport, Conn., assigner to Wassell Organization, Inc., Westport, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 2,427 2 Claims. (Cl. 116-130) This invention relates to control boards and, more particularly, to novelly constructed item lines for production control boards.

One type of production control board includes a frame and a plurality of parallel mounted item lines. Each item line includes a channel that is provided with means for receiving and displaying various types of markers which denote the condition or progress of an operation, such as sales planning, machine load and manpower scheduling, etc., being charted.

One type of marker described in that copending application includes a peg that is fastened to one end of a cord and is inserted into one of a plurality of holes formed in the channel. The other end of the cord is looped through a tension spring and anchored to the channel. The tension spring is also anchored to the channel and is extended when the peg is inserted into `a hole at the far end of the channel.

Some difficulty has been experienced with item lines constructed in this manner because the channels have a tendency to bow outwardly at the middle when the tension springs are fully extended. rIhis is due to the fact that the tension springs try to draw the ends of the channels together and, since the springs are positioned in slots formed in the under sides of the channels, the channels tend to bow outwardly away from the frame. This, of course, is undesirable because the channels could fall out of the frame.

Accordingly, it is the purpose of the present invention to provide novelly constructed item lines for a production control board that do not have a tendency to bow outwardly. This is attained, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, by providing a channel-like member that has at least one row of holes formed therein into which may be inserted a series of pegs. At least one cord or ow line is also provided that is looped through a hole formed in one end of the channel and fastened to the opposite end of the channel. The cord is also attached to one of the pegs which may be moved along one of the rows of holes to indicate the progress of a function being charted. The dow line is made of an elastic material so that, when the dow line is fully extended, the tensions on the outer and the under sides of the channel are balanced and the channel does not have a tendency to bow outwardly.

This invention may be better understood from the following detailed description o representative embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying gures of the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top view of an item line constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view further illustrating the item line shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in cross-section taken along the line 3 3 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view in cross-section taken along the line 4 4 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 5 is a top view of an item line constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a bottom view further illustrating the item line shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view in cross-section taken along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged view in cross-section taken along the line S-- of FIGURE 5.

There is illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4 an item line 9 that includes a channel-like member 10 which is preferably made of a transparent plastic material. As is best shown by the cross-sectional views of FIGURES 3 and 4, the channel has a slot 11; and two rails 12 formed in the underside thereof, the two rails being adapted to support a calibrated card 13. The upperside of the channel is adapted to receive insert cards (not shown) in a groove 14 formed between two walls 15. The sides of the channel are formed with a tongue 16 and a groove 17 which interlock with similar tongues and grooves formedin other channels when a group of channels are stacked side by side.

The item line illustrated in adapted to receive markers or indicators in various forms. For exampie, the calibrated card 13 may be disposed in the passageway formed by the two rails I2 on the underside of the channel. The center section 24 of the channel l@ is formed as a converging lens which magnifes this card. The groove 14 formed between two walls 15 is also adapted to receive various inserts and signal cards (not shown).

The channel 1t) also has a row of holes 1S formed therein which are adapted to receive different types of pegs. One type of peg which may be used is a signal peg i9 which has different colors or numbers stamped on it to denote diere'nt things. Another type of peg is a tape peg 2@ which is attached to one end of a cord or ow line 2l. This flow line 21 is looped through an eyelet 22 and has its other end attached to the channel i0 by forming two holes 23 in the channel, passing the flow line through the holes and tying a knot 4t) in the line.

The flow line 21 is made of an elastic material that stretches as the position of the peg 2@ is varied along the length of the row of holes 18. When the ilow line is partially extended it isnt stretched tightly enough to cause the channel to bow, and when the ow line is extended to its maximum length the tensions on the upper and the under sides of the channel are substantially in balance which again prevents bowing. It can be seen that an elastic ow line used in this novel manner provides all of the advantages of prior art ow lines without any of their disadvantages.

In FIGURES 5 to 8 is illustrated an item line 9 constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention wherein a channel 25 is provided having more than one ow line. The channel 25 is similar to the channel l@ shown in FIGURES l to 4 in that .it also includes an interlocking tongue 26 and groove 27, a passageway formed by two rails 23 for a calibration card 29 and a groove 3i) formed between two walls 31. A plurality of rows of holes 32 `are formed in the channel 25 which are adapted to receive signal pegs 33 and tape pegs 34. A plurality of elastic flow lines 35 are looped through eyelets 36 and are fastened at one end to the tape pegs 34 and at the other end to the channel 25. An item line constructed in this manner has the described advantage that the channel will not bow outwardly even though all of the tiow lines are fully extended because there is tension on both sides of the channel instead of only one.

It should be understood that the channels may be formed with any number of rows of holes and that not every row of holes need be provided with a ow line and peg. Furthermore, the entire width of the channel may have holes formed herein or a section, such as section 37, may be left free of holes so that information may be printed on the card 29 in this area.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described for purposes of illustration, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made thereto Without departing from this invention in its broader aspects. Therefore, the invention described herein is not to be construed as limited to the specic embodiments described but is intended to encompass all modiiications thereof coming Within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A panel of a control board comprising an elongated channel-like member, an extensible elastic line anchored On a first side and adjacent one end of said member, said member having an opening therethrough adjacent the opposite end thereof, said line extending through said opening, said member having a peg-like element extending from anintermediate point on a second side of said member, and the free end of said line being attached to said peg-like element.

2. A panel of a control board comprising an elongated channel-like member, a plualityV of extensible elastic lines anchored on a rst side and adjacent one end of said member, said member having a like plurality of openings therethrough adjacent the opposite end thereof, each of said lines extending throughfone of said openings, a like plurality or" peg-like elements extending from an intermediate point on a second side of said member, and each of the free ends of said lines being attached to one of said peg-like elements.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 733,834 Gledden July 14, 1903 2,412,238 Wassell Dec. 1-0, 1946' 2,519,724 Tv/VhitakerV Aug. 22, 1950 2,589,812 Hoskins Mar. 18, 1952 2,787,068 Anspach Apr. 2, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 816,858 Great Britain Iuly 22, 1959 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1960 

